


Bandage-ing old wounds

by kaminikaku



Category: KAT-TUN (Band)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-17
Updated: 2011-01-17
Packaged: 2017-10-14 20:17:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/153052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaminikaku/pseuds/kaminikaku
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>KAT-TUN has maintained the tradition of going to see any movie featuring a member. When Bandage comes out, five of them heed the wishes of its star, buy their own tickets and go see it. Sometimes you can only find answers to your questions, your fears and your hopes, by asking the right questions and listening to the honest answer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bandage-ing old wounds

**Author's Note:**

> This was written as part of the lj 2010 Fic the Faith fic exchange. It was written prior to recent events unfolding....in fact the whole announcement happened the day before this fic was posted. So yes thank you JE...making my fic life difficult....but....consider this to be January 2010, and it still kinda works :)  
> Thanks to beta-chan as always for her insights. There is some pretty serious mentions and discussion of Bandage in this. Beta-chan had not seen the movie and said she followed it ok, but it would probably be worth reading this fabulous piece of writing first if you have not yet done so http://pithetaphish.livejournal.com/388359.html#cutid1 Many many thank yous to pithetaphish for writing that review, it's fabulous.

**January 2010**

It had taken a fair amount of effort, but Maru had finally managed it. Finding a stretch of time when all five of them had nothing scheduled, plus another hour to allow travel time to and from the cinema, plus finding a cinema with a screening at the right time, with tickets available to pre-book and in a cinema not too large do as to minimise the risk of being discovered by other audience members – all of that was difficult.

Maru was very glad that there was normally only one movie per year that had a KAT-TUN member starring in it. It was hard to smuggle five KAT-TUN members into a Bandage screening. Yet, somehow, he managed it! Maru had been a bit unsure how he felt when Jin announced that he wanted the rest of KAT-TUN to see Bandage ... and that he wanted them to pay for their tickets. When Sushi Oji had opened he had happily bought tickets for all of them – and then willingly gone along and been teased over dinner about the movie and his character.

Kame's role in Gokusen had been a bit more problematic – Kame had presented them all with movie vouchers, but they had not all gone together. Well, five of them had gone together ... Jin had not tagged along. Maru had not been surprised, after all they had expected Jin to have a role in the movie himself, and then to discover that he had been excluded – things had been strained for a while. Looking back at it, Maru was still puzzled as to why things had unfolded like they had – it had made no sense at the time, and it was so obvious to his mind, that Jin and MatsuJun had been left out. He knew logically that the Jimusho had probably refused to release them, or the salaries demanded had been too high – but to not have Yabuki Hayato or Sawada Shin in the Gokusen finale ... that was just plain wrong. It had taken Junno blithely explaining to Kame, and by extension the rest of them as they were all busy eating lunch one day, how he could not believe that they had chosen to end the Gokusen series in such a fashion, without properly addressing all the issues that were resolved in the manga or had been developed in the TV series. After fifteen minutes of explaining what was wrong with the movie finale to the series, and how it should have been fixed, and with Kame's smile becoming ever more strained, Koki had finally snapped.

 

**June 2009**

“Enough, Junno. Kame-chan's movie may not be perfect, but he did a good job with what he was given.”

Junno paused, and blinked, a confused expression passed over his face, before a huge grin appeared. “I know that. Kame did a good job showing Ryu all grown up, but it was a Ryu that was different to the original Gokusen Ryu. It had to be, given they took Hayato away. If Hayato had been there, grown up Ryu would have been a bit more similar to his younger self I think. Anyways, I was not talking about Ryu really. I was talking about Shin. I mean, how could they have ignored all the manga chapters and situations, and everyone knows that Shin and Yankumi belong together. It's just wrong. They had the perfect opportunity to just sneak him in at the end, all it would have needed was a pause, and then a pan across and Shin standing there and the fangirls would have shrieked and everyone would have been happy ...”

Kame was looking flustered, the telltale swipe of his tongue over his lower lip giving away his discomfort while Ueda was nodding in agreement. Kame wished that they would stop discussing it – he had tried to argue for the same thing, but his reasoning had been denied.

Help came from the most unlikely source.

“Don't worry, Junno. I am sure that's how it worked out in the end. After all, as far as I know, Hayato went off to LA and then he came back and convinced Ryu that being a teacher was fine, but think how much more fun it would be to be a teacher and also come back to the old gang.” Jin paused, a smirk curving his lips. “It would not surprise me if Shin came back from Africa, started his own school for delinquents from Yakuza families, and has now employed Yankumi as head teacher.”

Kame stared at Jin, trying to keep his expression neutral. He had not known how to discuss the movie with Jin, not known how to broach the topic, given how he himself would have felt if he had not been included in the movie. Gokusen was important to him, it was his first acting role, their first acting role. He knew that without Gokusen and the success from that he would not have been cast in Nobuta - which had brought its own problems, but Gokusen was special. For him at least. Once he had thought it was special to Jin as well, and when roles were found for everyone else but Jin and MatsuJun ... he had only been able to imagine what it would have felt like to have been on the other side of that decision. He had been as surprised as the rest of KAT-TUN when Jin had piped up that first time in the MC during their concert tour, explaining that Hayato had gone to LA, even though Ryu had run after him telling him not to go ... he had laughed and played along with Jin's story, conscious of the thousands of eyes watching, thousands of ears listening ready to go home and talk to their friends about how Jin was not upset about his absence from the Gokusen movie ... was even joking about it ... and mentioning LA. Had the experience of filming Bandage, of being given that solo opportunity been enough motivation for Jin to have accepted his absence from Gokusen?

He had tried to give Jin a movie voucher, had planned to, but it had not worked out. Koki had asked if Jin was busy that night, and Jin had refused the invitation, saying he had a night out with his friends planned. Koki had started to insist, he knew that although Kame himself would never say, it was important to him. Jin had gently refused with a “Don't worry, I've already seen it,” and Kame had pretended not to hear it, not believing it in the slightest, even as he quickly hid the voucher behind his back. Now, it sounded like Jin had really seen it.

Junno grinned. “I like that ending a lot better than what they came up with!”

The atmosphere had lightened, which made Kame very grateful. Ueda, who had been sitting quietly at the table beside Junno, leant forward and with a cheeky smile said, “The only question I have, is an important one and only one that Kame can answer.”

Everyone turned towards Ueda, waiting patiently for his question. “Why the hell was Ryu wearing that grey cardigan? Even Nakamaru would not be caught dead wearing that thing on Shounen Club!”

Nakamaru's outraged “HEY!” was lost in the laughter echoing in the room.

 

**January 2010**

The room was remarkably quiet for a mid-afternoon weekday, especially when one considered that five-sixth's of KAT-TUN was present. Nakamaru had started handing out hot cups of tea to Ueda and Koki, while Kame and Junno got coffee ... even if he was sure they did not need it. Koki was unwrapping snacks and Junno was checking through the list of items they needed to know about, according to their Manager at least. The journey back from the cinema had been fairly quick but the wind had been strong and biting, and they were all glad to wrap their chilled hands around a hot cup of tea or coffee. They could at least warm up for a few hours before they needed to head out again.

They had travelled back to the jimusho separately, not wanting the outing to be discovered or pictures to end up in magazines. Not that there was anything wrong with a trip to a cinema to see a movie, but given the fact that they had all gone to see Bandage ... it would have raised some questions about what the group had been doing.

Everyone “knew” that KAT-TUN did not get along. It was one of those ideas that had grown along with them from the time they were juniors. They fought, they argued, they disagreed, they complained about each other and what they had to do. What most people outside of their circle forgot or did not notice was that they were now all grown men, professionals at their jobs, and more than capable of acting professionally. With the occasional squabble or knock down fight, to smooth the way. They had grown up together, and in many ways, KAT-TUN was an extended family for them. Underneath a healthy blanket of teasing, mocking, dismissal, boredom and even silence, it was acknowledged that they had all chosen this path and that they were all heading in the same direction.

When it had been announced that Kobayashi had asked for Jin directly, the other members had been surprised and happy for him. There had been slaps on the back, well done's, work hard's and even the odd “your acting better not suck” comment. They had all celebrated the success of one of their own, and it had been fine, just as it had been for other successes for other members.

In the end though, this solo project had been different. The time between the filming ending, and the movie opening, had brought fresh issues to the group. The ‘Break the Records’ concert tour had been draining, massive in scale at Tokyo and Osaka and then the subsequent summer tour had sent them to each corner of Japan. Sometimes it felt like the only time they were scheduled to be together as a group was for Cartoon KAT-TUN. Kame's own Gokusen movie had come and gone in the time between, Dreamboys had played out its season, there had been some drama special roles for Junno and Maru and then there had been news of LANDS.

Jin was to be the lead vocalist of a group called LANDS, different to the LANDS of the movie, but together they would debut and release a single and an album. Silence had greeted that news, each of them remembering how the conversation had gone the last time a solo CD debut for a member had gone.

Kame had finally smiled and said, “Congratulations. That will be a different challenge for you.”

Jin had nodded quietly, and remained silent.

“Will you get to do live performances as well?” Junno asked. Everyone knew that Junno was in this business for the moments when he got to stand on stage and perform.

“I don't know,” Jin had turned to their manager with a questioning look.

“At the moment, we have agreed to a single with the associated promotion for that; such as appearances on Music Station. If the single sells well, an album will be released. Live performances have not been discussed yet.”

“It would be a great opportunity though, a good chance for you to perform as yourself instead of with KAT-TUN,” Junno continued, not noticing the uncomfortable shifting of his bandmates. “Kind of like a solo in the con, but on a different scale.”

Jin nodded. “It will be different.” He had looked around at the faces of his bandmates, seen the encouragement and the worry hidden behind it. He wanted to reassure them, but could not find the words to do so. “I will do my best.”

“That is all we ask, Akanishi,” replied their Manager. “Now the next thing we need to discuss is ...”

At the time, Koki wished he had found a way to demand that Jin say he wanted to be part of KAT-TUN, that he did not want to be solo, that they were a group and he was the “A” and could not be replaced. Bandage was a movie about a band, and music, and it was different to the type of music and the demands of being an idol. Koki had feared that Jin's open frustration with idol limitations and lack of privacy would flare up, and ... he could admit it to himself, if no one else, that Jin would leave them again. They had survived once without him, they could possibly even do it again.

It was an unspoken secret between the five of them; the fear that Jin would leave again. Maru fretted like Koki, and both agreed that by not speaking the words aloud it would not come to pass. Ueda was stoic and silent on the subject, knowing that any words he had would be superfluous. Junno knew it was a danger, but did not acknowledge it out loud, and Koki sometimes thought that due to Junno's own relationship with Rena and his own difficulties with the press and the jimusho because of it, that his sympathies lay more with Jin being happy than Jin being an idol.

Kame; well Koki was not entirely sure what Kame thought. If he had asked, Kame might have told him that Kame himself did not entirely know what he thought. Kame and Jin – the power dynamic of their working relationship, the past, the present, their approach and attitude to what they did, had bled into their personal friendship and changed their relationship irrevocably. It was not quite as simple as they now felt this or that towards each other, as the circumstances and the opportunities changed, so did their relationship. They had grown up together ... grown close, grown apart, grown up finally. There may no longer be the easiness between them that once existed, but respect had come finally to both sides, and finally the ability to see the situation from the other's point of view. Neither would speak of how that had come about, and now Koki could only be glad for it. Glad that Jin could call Kame for acting advice while on set, and glad that Jin could joke about going to LA during an MC and claim Ryu had followed Hayato to the airport.

Koki had quietly feared that this movie would convince Jin that being the only singer in a group was where he had truly belonged. Now that he had seen the film, he thought his fear might be justified.

“He looked really comfortable up there, didn't he?” Junno broke the silence, and once more his band mates were convinced that KY or not, Junno often knew exactly what effect his words would have.

“He sounded good. He has the best vocals out of the group, so that was not unexpected,” Ueda sounded serious, like he was considering the movie and Jin's performance as something totally separate from his own livelihood.

“The mood of the music really suited his voice as well. I know he doesn't like that sort of music himself, but he sounded really good singing it,” Nakamaru added softly, gently running his finger over the lip of his cup.

“It was nice to hear him sing an entire song in Japanese again, wasn't it? His solos are in English now, but this was like listening to Jin back when we were juniors. It was nice,” Junno smiled. “I don't mean that these songs were like Johnny songs ... just that it was nice to hear him really sing again.”

“We don't really get to sing like that any more, do we?” Kame asked. “The solo I wrote last year for Dreamboys was all in Japanese, and at first it felt weird listening to it. I finally realised that I was not worried about any of the language, as they were all my words. With us though, we always have English creeping in somewhere, even if it's just Koki's rap. I can't even remember the last thing we would all have sung which was entirely in Japanese.”

“I would have said White Xmas but then Koki put that rap in,” Ueda smirked as Koki glared at him. “Maybe Bokura no Machi de? Or one of the B-sides ...” He shrugged. “It was definitely good to hear Jin sing like that again though. Although ...” Ueda trailed off, not finishing his sentence.

“What?” Junno finally asked.

“He could really do it. I think he really could see himself as the lead singer of a band if he decided to go solo.” Ueda said simply, no emotional inflection in his voice.

“And where does that leave KAT-TUN?” The words burst from Koki, months of worrying about it finally getting the better of him. No one answered and he finally asked again. “Without him, where does that leave KAT-TUN?”

“Without who?” A question answered by a question, and with a sinking feeling Koki turned towards the now open door.

Jin peeled off his gloves and pulled off his beanie, taking an empty seat opposite Kame. He smiled his thanks at Nakamaru as he pushed a fresh cup of hot tea towards him. “Without who, Koki? What did I miss?”

Koki muttered, “It doesn't matter, it's not important. Is it cold out there? When is our meeting due to start?”

“They told me I had to be here at 3, so here I am.” He frowned, obviously wanting to say something about the previous topic but not sure how to do so. He tried again, “Are you sure it was not important?”

Koki shook his head, stubbornly refusing to say anything, uncertain himself how to broach the subject without sounding angry.

Knowing what it felt like to be on the other side of the dividing line, Kame smoothly moved into the breach, although he chose a topic that was not high on Koki's list of things to talk about. “We just came back from seeing Bandage. I can see why Kobayashi asked for you, you did a really job. Natsu was a really difficult character to show honestly and with care. You did a good job. Well done.”

Jin stared at him. “You all went to see Bandage?”

“You were the one who said we needed to buy our own tickets!” Nakamaru stated. “So we did.”

“I didn't really mean that,” Jin looked lost for a moment. “I just ... I just ...”

“You just wanted us to see it and didn't know how to say it?” Junno asked. The other five members stared at him. He shrugged. “That's what Rena said. She thought it was cute that you obviously wanted us to see it but you were not sure how to say that to us.”

Jin blushed. The other five memberts stared at him. “I just ...” He stopped and finally said, “Yeah.”

Ueda exploded. “You seriously could not say you wanted us to see your movie? This from the man who carried around a copy of ANAN with his nude photoshoot inside, ready to show anyone who asked ... or did not ask?”

“Shut up! I just happened to have it that day. You did not need to tell everyone about that. Now everyone thinks I am some kind of sleazy guy who carries around naked photoshoots of himself!”

Maru smirked. “Jin, I hate to break this to you, but you are some kind of sleazy guy who carried around naked photoshoots of himself.”

Enraged, Jin reached over the table to grab Maru's cheeks, growling at him to stop it.

Kame reached over and tapped his arms. “Let him go, Jin. You probably deserved that. You have said worse to him, we all know that's true!”

Jin subsided with a pout ... that he would deny was a pout. “You could be nice to me. I had to work this morning while the rest of you were at the movies.”

The knowledge that Jin would have been preparing for his solo con made the table fall silent. “How is the preparations for your solo show going?” Koki asked, managing to sound sincere ... and most importantly not worried.

“They are going well. I have finished the songs, and we are basically prepping for arrangements, staging and lighting now. The dancers are in rehearsal and it should all be good.” He smiled, and looked around the table “I would like all of you to come and see my solo con.” He grinned and then bowed deeply. “There, was that clear enough?”

Kame smiled at him, as the other four pretended to throw things at him. “I am likely to be filming for most of the month, but if I can I will get there.”

Jin nodded, then smirked at him. “I could always get you a ticket for your birthday. If I remember of course.”

Kame snorted. “Cheapskate.”

The room fell quiet, but this time it was more comfortable than not.

Finally, Jin said quietly, “I know that ... if you guys are ... It's not that way. I just wanted to ...” He stopped and looked at his hands before trying again, this time keeping his gaze firmly fixed on the table. “Even though I have this solo con, and LANDS just happened, and I have really enjoyed the solo work, I just want to say ... I am happy in KAT-TUN.”

This time the silence was a little less comfortable.

Finally Koki spoke. “Even though you can be on your own, and do your own music in the solo con? Even though the solo con is just about you?”

Jin nodded. “Yes.” He paused, searching for the right words. “The solo con is more about it being my music. The songs are things that I wrote, either by myself or with someone. So, it's my voice ... my idea if that makes sense. Our solos can be that way too ... but this is a entire show that I put together. You can't tell yet, but it's not just about me. FiVE is there, Josh is there, Ryo and I co-wrote a song and he will sing it with me if he gets a chance ... and there are dancers and backup signers ... and it's not just me. I am not alone on that stage. It might be my name on the ticket, and my voice that they have come to hear, but it's not just me out there alone.”

“Do you want it to be?” Kame asked the question that none of them would admit to worrying about. He could ask it, he knew that it had been asked about him behind his back but never to his face. “Jin, do you want it to be just you out there, just Akanishi Jin, solo, on stage?”

Jin bit his lip and his left hand grabbed his poytail, fingers combing through the ends. He was bad with words, he knew that he said the wrong things, or said things that confused people. He needed to get this right. “Sometimes. Sometimes I do.”

Koki stiffened, and Maru slumped in his chair. Junno stared bankly at him, while Ueda looked away. Kame held his gaze, seeming to stare right into his soul, and Jin clung to the idea that as long as Kame kept looking at him, he could continue talking and the others would understand what he was trying to say.

“Sometimes I do want it just to be me out there, singing my own songs, writing my own material. Which is what I have been doing. You will see that next month.” He paused, biting his lip. “I have worked really hard on You & Jin and I think it is a good show. I am proud of it.”

Kame did not say anything, and Jin held his gaze.

“What I don't want is to to be Natsu.”

Jin felt the current of disbelief stretching between the other members, but oddly, Kame anchored him. He realised Kame had been through this before. Would it have been worse to be part of Shuji to Akira ... to debut before your bandmates ... or to be chosen for a solo debut after your bandmates had debuted and you were successful? Which would be seen as more alienating?

Jin took a deep breath, and then felt the words flow out of him. “I don't want to be Natsu. I don't want to be the lead singer of a band. I don't want to only be a solo artist. I do not want to be the only person on stage, the only one people can see standing there. I don't want to have to be the only one standing there on TV shows, talking about my single and what it means. I do not want to be the only person there in a magazine interview, answering questions about all sorts of things. I do not want to write songs with only me there, sitting in a room, putting words and notes on paper. I do not want to shoot video clips with me being the only artist on the call sheet. I do not want to be Akanishi Jin. I want to be KAT-TUN's Akanishi Jin.”

Kame smiled gently at him, but before he could say anything, Ueda interrupted. “Then why do you always try to give the impression that you would rather be anywhere but with us?”

“I don't mean to.” Ueda snorted his disbelief. “It's just different from how it used to be. When I was a junior it was like I did not know or care that there was a camera there. Since I came back from LA, sometimes I cannot forget that the camera is there. I ... freeze. I don't know what they want me to say. I don't know what they think would be good, what they expect. I can't just talk like ...” Jin's gaze flickered back to Kame, and he continued, “I run out of words.”

Koki said sternly, “Find some. When you just sit there, looking bored and ignoring the rest of us, it looks like you are there under sufferance. It makes it look like you would prefer to be someone else.”

Jin looked away. “I can ... try. I don't know if I will manage it, but I can try.”

“That's what we would ask for, right?” Junno said brightly, pushing a newly opened packet of pocky into the centre of the table. “It is good that you still want to be here with us.”

Maru nodded. “What made you realise that?” He sounded quite suspicious, and tried to make the question sound a little less aggressive. “I mean, you have thought about it, what made you so sure?”

“Natsu did.” Koki started at him, not expecting that answer. A movie where Jin was a solo star, that made him of all people sure that he wanted to be in KAT-TUN? How did that make sense?

Jin shook his head. “Natsu ... playing Natsu made me realise. I know I got the role of Natsu because Kobayashi-san found similarities between us, he saw bits of Natsu in me and vice versa. Yet, as I played him I realised that I did not want to be Natsu, and I did not want to only be like Natsu. Asako saw him as he truly was – alone and childish, different and adrift.”

“Natsu wasn't alone on stage, Jin.” Ueda pointed out. “He had LANDS.”

“He did.” Jin nodded. “He had LANDS behind him, playing music that he had written or someone else in the band had written, but Natsu was not ... Natsu was so lonely. He was part of LANDS but ... I think LANDS would have existed without Natsu. In a way, his voice was no different to the keyboards, or the drums, or the guitar. LANDS was seen as his band, but the music ... it was not really his. That's why LANDS could do different versions and they were almost different songs.”

“What about Genki?” Kame asked quietly. He thought he could see what Jin meant, but he wanted to be sure. Had Jin seen what being the only singer, the one seen as the leader, the only leader, would be truly like?

“Natsu wrote Genki for Asako. He was trying to impress her, and when he played it for her in he car, she heard it how he heard it in his own head. His voice and his guitar.” Jin paused, trying to make them understand. “After that, it was not his song anymore. It becomes a LANDS song ... the other instruments get added, and it would not have been released if Arumi had not arranged it. She added so much to it, the brass section, changed the tempo made it upbeat and happy and ... fun. Natsu still sang it, but he lost his connection to it.”

Ueda interrupted. “When Natsu sang it, that version of it, in front of other people, he had lost belief in it. It was no longer his music. That's why we had that scene where Natsu ended the song just yelling Genki Genki Genki at the audience, right?”

“Yes,” Jin said. “It was like Natsu did not know how to engage with the song anymore. It was a different song to the one he had written. He knew that LANDS would need to arrange the song, but the tone of it was so different, he could not express what he needed to do with it. Which was why, after Asako rejected him, and they knew it was over ... that was why when he picked up that guitar it was Genki that he sang ... his way.”

“The way Natsu had always intended it to be sung. The way he heard it in his head.” Kame looked at Jin. “A song that was for Asako, and for him. They were the only ones who heard it that way.”

Jin nodded. “Yeah.”

Koki stared at him. “That makes no sense to me Jin. Are you saying that because you played the role of the lead singer of a band, who wrote solo songs ... and those songs were then arranged for his band to sing, but because the band were involved as well, they were no longer his songs. Which made you realise that you wanted to be part of KAT-TUN somehow? How?”

“It makes sense to me.” Junno leant over to grab Koki's arm. “Natsu was seen as the leader of that band, but he was not really the leader. In his head, LANDS and he were the same, maybe, and then Asako came along and she saw them as two different things. She could not say what she thought about him, but could answer perfectly fine about LANDS. Natsu is part of LANDS, they all contribute to the sound, but Natsu does not really see that, until maybe the end. Think about it. We saw lots of Natsu and Asako together ... but when did we see Natsu with any of the other band members? He was always being rebuffed, or sitting apart from them, or being separate from them in some way. It's not like the other members were trapped in some Arashi-like team spirit, they were just more of a team. Maybe because they were all musicians, they played instruments and blended and listened to each other, and created a sound together. Natsu was part of that, but his job was to use the lyrics to express emotions.”

“And he even wasn't always needed for that.” Maru said quietly. “Yukiya managed to rewrite Hatachi no Sensou and blend Natsu's voice into the sound so it was almost as embedded in the sound as the guitar chords. It was no longer Natsu singing the song, it was a piece of instrumental music where the words were only one line of the sheet, no more noticeable than anything else.”

“Which explains the end of you think about it,” Kame drummed his fingers on the table for emphasis. “Asako heard Hatachi no Sensou for the first time, and was moved to tears, just through Natsu's voice and the music. She heard it live when Yukiya played it for her, and changed it so it was fresh and new ... and different. Did she realise at that point that Yukiya's contribution to that song had been as important as Natsu? Was that the point she realised that LANDS really was the sum of the parts, and not just Natsu's voice, Arumi's keyboard or Yukiya's guitar? Even at the point where the group is falling apart, all of them can come together and produce a version of Hatachi no Sensou without talking about it, they all just join in and it's stunning. Then, in the end, when she sees Natsu singing, and even though she cannot hear him, she knows what he is singing. I think she realises at that moment that even without LANDS, she knows who Natsu is and what he is trying to do with his music. That's when he knows how she truly feels about him.”

Jin looked around the table. Koki followed his gaze. Junno, Maru, Ueda and Kame were all nodding. Jin looked at Koki, and said, “I just thought Natsu was lonely and I don't want to be lonely like that. Even when he was in a group, Natsu was really alone.”

Koki nodded. “Ok.”

“Are we cool?” Jin asked.

Koki nodded.

“Cool.”

The door opened again, and their Manager entered. “Oh good, you are all here. Are you ready to go?”

Jin looked around at his bandmates and said simply, “Always.”


End file.
